Background: The Niagara2Toronto Paddleboard Crossing

The Lake Ontario Crossing is a 32-mile paddleboard race from Port Dalhousie in Ontario’s Niagara region, to Toronto.

The 32 mile, point-to-point course matches the standard established by the Molokai-to-Oahu crossing in Hawaii and the Catalina Classic in California, bringing an open-water endurance race to the Great Lakes.

Make no mistake. Although this is a fresh-water event, a Lake Ontario crossing is a big and exposed paddle not to be taken lightly. At the mid point of the crossing, paddlers are 20km from land and without cell phone coverage for three hours. Weather on the Great Lakes is highly variable, often changing from calm winds to gale-force conditions in minutes. Six-foot swells are common in the autumn months.

In September 2014, Dan Michaluk andRob Kavciccrossed Lake Ontario in under six hours – Dan paddling prone and Rob on a standup paddleboard. A year later, Gander Tawaststjerna joined them on their second crossing in challenging ocean-like conditions.

With that, Dan and Rob created The Lake Ontario Crossing to share the open-water paddling experience with the local community and its guests. It is a demanding physical and mental test for those ready to take on the open waters of Lake Ontario.